Death Can't Stop True Love
by BistaUss
Summary: My Rumbelle Christmas in July gift for the lovely girl-with-cat-eyes! Her prompt was "death can't stop true love" which I used as the title because I'm unoriginal. Picks up when Rumplestiltskin sacrifices himself and kills Peter Pan, then veers off into fanon land.


The ground was so cold.

The chill seeped through Belle's stockings and sank into her bones, freezing her to the core.

"Rumple!" she called out futilely, her tear filled eyes still fixed on the spot where her true love had been just moments before. He and Pan had disappeared, but Rumple's dagger remained. Even from the distance, she could see that his name had vanished from the blade. Her heart was breaking and she didn't want to believe it, but she knew what it meant. She convulsed with sobs as her head fell forward. "He's gone," Belle moaned, pressing her hands against her mouth.

She sensed someone kneel beside her before the gentle hand touched her shoulder and she managed to look up. Meeting the dark eyes of Rumple's son nearly broke her again, but she immediately covered his hand with her own. "I'm so sorry, Neal," she choked the words out.

Neal took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry too," he whispered. He couldn't think what else to say, and for several moments they merely looked at each other, ignoring the muttering of the rest of the group standing around them.

Belle's hand tightened on his. "He loved you so much," she said softly.

Neal closed his eyes, and Belle could see how hard he was trying to keep it all inside. She drew him close and he folded into her arms like a child. They clung to each other and dissolved into tears.

It was Emma's idea to have a memorial service. Rumplestiltskin had saved them, after all, and he was her son's grandfather, so it just seemed right to honor him. She and Regina even combined their magic to make a headstone. With no body to bury, it seemed a bit silly at first, but Emma figured that at the very least it would give Neal and Belle a place to come and feel close to the man they had lost.

The service itself was small. Most of the townsfolk might have been grateful but they still viewed Rumplestiltskin as the Dark One. But those in attendance were the ones who knew that there was more beneath that.

Belle and Neal stood together, watching as each person came forward to say a few words about the man who had saved them all.

Regina spoke of her mentor, who despite his manipulations toward his own understandable ends, was still an excellent teacher and even a good friend.

Snow and Charming talked of all the deals they had made with Rumplestiltskin over the years, all the ways he had helped them, and how if it weren't for him, they might not have even found each other at all.

Neal told of a father who loved his son so much that he walked through fire and killed a demon to save him from fighting in a pointless war. A man whose first act upon inheriting the power of the Dark One was to end that war and bring all the child soldiers home to their families. A father who made terrible mistakes but tore the world apart trying to fix them. "I hated him for a long time," Neal admitted. "But I know that underneath the fear of losing his power was the fear of losing me, and those two fears were tangled up together. In the end, he wasn't a coward at all." He laid a hand on his father's headstone and whispered a barely audible farewell, and moved back toward Belle.

She hugged him fiercely before stepping up to say her own words. She was trembling with emotion, not just sadness, but love and gratitude to all the people here who saw what she strove so long to show people about Rumplestiltskin. Taking a deep breath, she began speaking.

"There was always good in him," she said softly. "He couldn't always see it, but I did. Everything he did was aiming toward his one goal of being reunited with his son, and I can't fault him for pushing me away when he thought loving me would stop him reaching that goal." Belle wrung her hands together, unsure what else to add. "He saved us all," she managed, before concluding, "And I'll always love him."

As per tradition, after the service everyone had congregated at Granny's for food and company. Neal had insisted that Belle come too; though a part of her craved solitude, she acquiesced. She sat in a booth in the corner, hands wrapped around her mug and her eyes downcast.

"Grandma?"

Belle lifted her eyes to see Henry standing by her table looking only a little unsure. She gave him a small smile.

"I'm not sure I qualify for that title, Henry," she said quietly. "Your grandfather and I weren't married, after all."

"But you were his True Love," Henry replied in a tone that would brook no argument. "So you may as well have been."

"I suppose you have a point," she conceded with a nod, "but you can still call me Belle, if you like."

Henry grinned, clearly pleased, but then his face turned somber. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry about Grandpa Rumple. He could be pretty scary most of the time, but he wasn't bad. And he really loved you a lot." Tentatively, he patted her hand. "I'm real sorry he's gone, Belle."

His words brought a lump to Belle's throat. _Grandpa Rumple._ She covered Henry's hand with hers and swallowed hard. "Thank you, Henry," she choked out. "You're right, he wasn't bad. I'm sorry you didn't get to know him better."

"Me too," the boy replied, looking down, then back up at her with slightly brighter eyes. "Maybe you could tell me some stories about him sometime?"

A true smile came to Belle's face and she said, "I'd love to."

Belle stared at the stone.

Kneeling in the grass, she lightly traced the letters that spelled out his name, then pulled out the dagger. Still blank, as it had been since his death. She wasn't even sure why she had picked it up that day, why she kept carrying it around, treating it almost like some kind of talisman, as if it would keep him close.

But he was gone.

Tears filled her eyes and she rocked slightly while she cried. Rumplestiltskin was gone, and she had to let him go.

On an impulse, she lifted the dagger to her lips and pressed a kiss to the metal. She thought of the first time she had kissed him, when True Love had taken hold of his curse and nearly set him free. How elated she had felt, how much she had loved him. Without really knowing why, she poured out all the love and heartache she felt into that cold blade, and then plunged it into the ground in front of the stone.

The earth seemed to tremble beneath her, and she gasped. For just a moment, she thought she had felt that rush of magic again, that bright sweeping rush that only a kiss of true love could bring. She covered her face with her shaking hands, leaning back on her heels and trying to collect her thoughts.

"Belle?"

Her heart stopped. Belle knew she must be dreaming, hallucinating, delusional, because there was no way she had heard that voice.

Slowly, so slowly, she turned, just enough to see over her shoulder. Her heart was suddenly in her throat, pounding in overtime. Impossibly, standing mere feet away from her -

"Rumple?"

She was barely able to breathe his name. He seemed lost, confused, but solid and real, standing there.

"Belle," he said again, and she moved. She was surging to her feet and all but leaping the distance between them in a matter of seconds. Certainly he felt solid as she slammed into him and they fell. Rumplestiltskin managed to stay somewhat upright, seated in the grass with Belle across his lap, gripping his shoulders and staring into his eyes with disbelief written all over her face.

"Rumple, are you real?"

"I think I must be, judging by the bruises I can feel forming," he replied, gently prying her hands off his shoulders and holding on tightly. "I can't tell you what exactly happened though." He paused, content for a moment just to gaze at her, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles on the backs of her hands. But then the confusion was back. "Belle, I was gone, dead. What happened? What am I doing here?"

Belle was still in a state of shock, but she thought she might know the answer, insane as it was. "I - I think maybe it was True Love's Kiss." Rumple's eyebrows furrowed, and she went on. "I'm not sure, admittedly, but it felt like that when I kissed your dagger. I'm not even sure what made me do it, it just seemed right, and I was thinking about our first kiss and how the magic felt and - and I thought I felt it again just now before I saw you…" She stopped and just stared at him, tears filling her eyes. She shook her head and flung her arms around him, clinging to him. "Oh Rumple, I love you."

Rumplestiltskin held her close, tears stinging his own eyes, gently running a hand over her hair. "I love you, Belle," he whispered.

That afternoon was a blur, for both of them. Of course their first mission was to find Neal, who was so dumbstruck at the sight of his previously dead father that Emma, though quite dumbstruck herself, actually pinched his arm to help prove he wasn't dreaming. After some tearful hugs were exchanged, Neal, to their surprise, urged Belle and Rumple to go home without him. He merely said he wanted them to have a chance for some time alone before the town found out about Rumple's resurrection.

It felt a little selfish, but Belle couldn't deny she was glad of the chance to have Rumple to herself for a little while. People did have a tendency to come running to him any time there was something amiss in town.

And so they found themselves back in Rumple's house, in the bed they had shared for such a short time before he had gone to Neverland, holding each other close. They didn't speak much, just took comfort in being together again.

"Rumple?" Belle said softly, pulling back from her position against his chest to look at him. "I don't think I told you yet, but what you did, it was the bravest thing I've ever seen."

He smiled and brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear and cupping her cheek gently. "It's like I said then, Belle," he replied. "You make me strong." He pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss started off soft and chaste, but Belle, reeling from the emotions of the day, pulled Rumple closer and kissed him passionately. To her delight, he responded with enthusiasm, his hand fisting in her hair. Belle couldn't help but moan as his tongue caressed hers. She pressed against him, simultaneously tugging his jacket from his shoulders.

Within moments she managed to peel away the layers of clothing from his upper body, and she shifted down to kiss across his bare chest. Rumple sighed deeply, running a hand up and down her back and she trailed her lips up to his neck and gently bit down on his pulse point. Belle moved back up to meet his lips with hers again, and it was Rumple's turn to pull at her clothes and begin undressing her. He held her to him as one hand slid up her back and deftly unhooked her bra.

Belle didn't hesitate to remove the garment and wrap her arms around him, arching against him with pleasure at the feeling of skin on skin. Then Rumple shifted his weight, rolling them so that Belle was on her back beneath him. He kissed her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, then sweetly kissed her lips. He moved down to her neck, roving over her skin with lips and tongue, before continuing down her chest. Belle shuddered as his mouth caressed her breasts, whimpering softly when he ran his fingers and tongue over her nipples.

Rumple made his way down her stomach, kissing and nipping gently at her, before stopping just at the waistband of her skirt. He delicately bit down on the skin there as his fingers trailed over the fabric and slipped under it. He wasted no time in removing the skirt and everything beneath it, all the while pressing kisses to each new bit of exposed flesh. His fingers, barely touching, raised goosebumps on her legs as his hands slid up over her knees. His mouth followed, kissing his way up to the apex of her thighs. Before he could begin any ministrations on her there, Belle's hand gently touched his hair and he looked up at her.

She gazed at him with such desire that he wanted to dive straight back between her legs and refuse to leave until she cried with pleasure, but he held her gaze and waited.

"Rumple," she breathed. "It's not that I don't want-," her hand trembled a little as she stroked his hair, "but I want, I need to feel you, inside me, now."

He just stared at her for a few seconds, then with a speed she hadn't realized he was capable of, divested himself of his remaining clothes and lay his body atop hers. He slipped his arms under her and buried his face in her hair, holding her tightly. Belle wrapped one arm around him and snaked her other hand between their bodies to take hold of his cock. He gasped, shaking slightly as she stroked him.

"Oh, my Belle," he murmured the words in her ear like a prayer, and Belle thought her heart might burst. She shifted her hips to meet his and guided him to her entrance. He slid inside her and they froze, staring at each other as if they couldn't quite believe this was real.

And then Belle shifted her hips again, and Rumple moved with her. Their mouths came crashing together, teeth scraping tongues. Rumple's arms tightened under her, crushing her to him while he thrust in and out of her.

She pulled her face away, exposing her neck, and he immediately clamped his teeth down on her neck where it met her shoulder. She moaned and ran her nails down his back, her hands stopping to grasp his buttocks. Rumple released her flesh and licked his way up her throat, nipping lightly at her earlobe. Belle's hands came up his sides, nails scraping his skin, causing shivers to skitter over his body. She moved again, this time to wrap her legs around him and coax his cock even deeper into her. Rumple braced himself on his arms and raised himself up, looking down at her.

"Belle," was all he said.

"Please, Rumple," she moaned back, gazing at him with eyes practically glowing with need.

He upped his tempo, pounding into her hard a swift. Her head tipped back as she gripped his shoulders. She whimpered his name again and he was undone, arching his back and shaking as he spilled into her. Belle came with him, the first pulse of his orgasm bringing hers, and she was left trembling in its wake.

Ever the gentleman, Rumple shifted off her before collapsing, but she followed, rolling so he ended up on his back and she was cuddled at his side, her head resting on his chest. For several minutes they stayed like that, silent, catching their breath and holding each other. Rumple ran his hand up and down her arm while Belle traced light patterns on his skin.

"Rumple," she said softly.

"Mmm?"

She pressed closer to him, nuzzling his neck. "I love you."

Rumplestiltskin smiled, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to her head. "And I love you."


End file.
